data loss prevention (DLP)
All relevant research shows an increasing trend in terms of data leakage and data loss. Data loss can occur during data transmission, in e-mails and their attachments, in instant messaging( IM), unified messaging service( UMS) or file transfer( FT), but also in the data stored within companies on USB sticks, on notebooks or DVDs.
The damage caused by data loss is enormous and is generally underestimated by companies. For this reason, there is an increasing trend towards data protection in conjunction with the corresponding mechanisms. The terms Data Leakage Prevention (DLP), Data Loss Prevention (DLP) or Data Leakage Protection (DLP) are used for these techniques, which employ Content Management and Filtering (CMF) as a monitoring method.
The goal of all these measures is to prevent unwanted data leakage in general and data theft and loss of sensitive and confidential corporate data in particular. With Data Loss Prevention, hardware and software can be monitored with regard to data leaks and their functionality can be restricted.
Before data loss prevention measures can be deployed, vulnerabilities must be identified and eliminated. Data masking is available for this purpose. Intrusion detection systems( IDS) and intrusion prevention systems( IPS), firewalls and virus scanners are already in use to defend against attacks. Corresponding systems examine the incoming data stream for attack patterns. In connection with data loss prevention, however, the defense components can also analyze outgoing data streams for data that must not leave the company.
Data Leakage Prevention starts by securing endpoints and inspecting traffic at network gateways, where it monitors Simple Mail Transfer Protocol( SMTP) or HTTPtraffic andchecks for policies and non- compliance. In addition, DLP programs monitor information content with content filters. This monitoring can include linguistic analysis.